Disabling situations occur due to mismatches between a person’s abilities and the barriers presented by the thing they’re interacting with. Often those barriers are unintended, and unnecessary. Accessibility means avoiding these unnecessary barriers.
This is the social model of disability, the principle that disability is the result of mis-matched interactions. This means whether an interaction is disabling or not is within the control of the people defining those interactions – designers, developers.
Games can’t be accessible to everyone, the definition of “game” requires some kind of challenge, which will inevitably exclude someone. But all games can be made more accessible to more people while maintaining what makes them what they are. All of us have the means to open our medium up to a wider audience.
Why is accessibility important – The human case, business case, and others reasons why accessibility matters
About CVAA – Intro to US legislation affecting communications functionality in games, networks and platforms
Demystifying CVAA – In-depth primer on how CVAA legislation works
Accessibility Quotes Screensaver – Collection of quotes, created for Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2021
About Section 508 – US legislation affecting games used in federal settings, including schools
Banner image credit – Microsoft